College admission for illegal immigrants in doubt

RALEIGH -- The state Attorney General's Office is advising community colleges not to admit illegal immigrants in the absence of a state law specifically granting them the right to postsecondary education.

The state's community college system currently allows illegal immigrants to enroll under an open door policy.

But in a letter dated Tuesday to the system's lawyer, the Attorney General's Office questions whether the policy would stand up in court.

The letter, signed by J.B. Kelly, general counsel in the state Justice Department, says a former policy generally prohibiting illegal immigrants "would more likely withstand judicial scrutiny."

Andrea Bazan, founder of the state's largest Hispanic advocacy group and president of the Triangle Community Foundation, said she was disappointed in the opinion. She has spent the past several years pushing for in-state tuition for illegal immigrants.

"We are creating this permanent underclass here in our state, because we're not allowing these kids who are succeeding in our schools to get more education," she said. "These are kids who want to contribute."

Richard Stevens, a state senator from Wake County, said he was happy with the ruling. Without it, he said he would have pushed for a state law barring illegal immigrants from colleges and universities. "I hope the community colleges will follow the advice of the attorney general," Stephens said.

The community college system's old policy was issued in 2001. It allowed illegal immigrants to enroll only if they were high school students taking college-level classes, or if they took only non-college classes such as GED courses, or if they qualified for federal benefits to victims of extreme cruelty or battery.

Kelly wrote that the colleges' admissions rules must be consistent with federal law, which regulates immigration. And federal law, the letter noted, makes illegal immigrants ineligible for state and local public benefits, including postsecondary education.

For illegal immigrants to attend community college, the state legislature would have to pass a law, Kelly wrote.

Kelly also noted that the federal Office of Homeland Security, which enforces immigration laws, has not offered any guidance relating postsecondary education for illegal immigrants.

Until Homeland Security offers such guidance or the legislature takes action, the community college system would be legally safer to ban illegal immigrants, the letter suggests.